


Imagined

by whatsanapocalae



Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: Birthday, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-06-02 15:28:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19444276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatsanapocalae/pseuds/whatsanapocalae
Summary: Ruvik gives Joseph some much needed support for STEM. Takes place in the same universe as A Detective in Junction.





	Imagined

They were everywhere, the creatures, the monsters, that had followed him from the nightmare of the old village all of the way here, to the modern and sleek city of Junction. He’d been running for so long and his legs were so tired, but everywhere he turned there were more of them. When he was with the others there were less of them but Amber and Emily brought their own obstacles and trials. He didn’t like Amber, not at all, she was rude and selfish and the way that she treated him was more like an experiment than anything else. Emily was just a child and she had some good ideas and brought him some wonderful nostalgia, but being around her always made him miss his own daughter. 

The monsters chased him into the heart of the city and he started to tug at the doors of different buildings, finding them locked. They were all locked. He could break a window, force his way inside, but that would do nothing for him. They would just follow him inside. 

One of the doors was unlocked and he pulled it open. A small bell rang as it did. The lighting was low and there was music playing, nothing good, the sort of music that would play in an American Japanese fusion restaurant or the elevator and a sauna. Other than that it was silent though. He couldn’t even hear the monsters outside. He was alone. He looked back, saw a few of them milling about, but they were doing so in a fashion akin to when they had no idea where he was. They had completely forgotten about him. The front was all glass, there was no way that they couldn’t see him, but they weren’t even caring about him. This place, for some reason, was safe. 

He turned his attention back to the building. It was a restaurant, with booths and small tables, all of which were alongside a conveyor belt, with small plates and plastic bowls to protect the food upon them, rolling around in planned circles. 

There were no corpses, no people at all, except for one man, sitting dead center, as if he were waiting for Joseph. When he caught sight of him he even raised a hand, not pale, but wrapped in bandages, calling him over. Joseph didn’t know what was going on, what had changed, but he made his way over the to man. 

He was wearing bandages, not just on his hand but around his head and neck. There were more of them, but they were hidden under his clean and crisp button up shirt. Joseph had seen Ruvik like this a few times, but that didn’t stop the chills from running down his spine. He wished that he still had his firearm, though he doubted that it would do anything against the man. 

“What are you doing here?” Joseph asked, voice, rough. 

“Tea?” Ruvik replied, pouring him a small cup. 

“You’re not supposed to be here,” Joseph continued, staring at him. He didn’t take a seat. He just stood there, hands in fists at his sides. 

“Come now don’t be barbaric,” Ruvik pressed, waved at the other side of the table. “You must realize that I mean you no harm.”

Joseph couldn’t think of any reason not to sit there. They were in a safe place, after all. Ruvik wasn’t even paying him much attention, looking at the food that went by before selecting a blue plate, one of the expensive ones, which appeared to be sturgeon. Joseph sat for a moment, just breathing, trying to understand, before he too selected a plate, red with eel. 

“So, how are you here?” Joseph asked, correcting his earlier question. 

Ruvik took his chopsticks and selected a piece, dipping it gently into his soy sauce. “So you are not as foolish as they believe you are. You have realized that this is not the STEM that I controlled.”

Joseph shrugged. “It’s pretty obvious, actually. The world isn’t as much of a mess.”

“That was not my intention,” Ruvik explained, “All of the dreamers have an affect on the dream. All of those plebians wandering about altered my vision. They made it into a mess. I had it all under control, had the plans laid out, but then they all came in and started dying. They actually made it worse by being dead.”

“And you’re here because?”

“Because I am needed here. I am the creator of STEM, I am what Mobius wanted, every single thing I came up with they wanted to sunder, to use and tear apart. They bastardized my vision.”

“Who needs you?”

A roll of the eyes and a slight smirk. “Why, you do, Joseph. Have you not missed me? And on this day of all of them I thought you would need someone.”

Joseph raked his mind, trying to find something, anything, that made this day any different than the rest. 

“July 1st,” Ruvik offered, “You’re Birthday.”

“You decided to come back from wherever you were-

“The dead,” Ruvik supplied. 

“-to spend time with me on my Birthday? Why? You always just wanted me dead.”

Ruvik reached out, his fingers cold and Joseph had to fight the urge to rip his hand away, to let those burned smooth fingers land on the leather of his gloves. “You were always so very interesting to me. You have so many positive qualities Joseph, your desire to protect, that unfailing loyalty, that intelligence and patience. I thought that we could do wonders together, and I was so curious how far I could push you against those you love.” 

“You turned me into a monster,” Joseph fought the urge to scream it. There was a worry, a nagging sensation in his gut, that Ruvik could kill him, if he so chose. He didn’t even have to attack him, he could just choose for Joseph to be dead and he would be. 

“I turned you into a tool, yes, just as they did me. Truly, I think you could understand me more than anyone else in Mobius ever could.”  
Joseph’s hand became a fist under Ruvik’s touch. “I’m nothing like you.”

“I agree in all other aspects. You are as much a threat to me in this place as anything else. But I get behind myself. There is a reason for my presence here, of course.”

Joseph took his hand away, using his glasses as an excuse to get away from that icy hold. He took them off and cleaned them against his ruined vest. “Finally,” he grumbled. 

“You need my assistance” Ruvik mused, going back to his food. “You have seen the monsters, you have fought them, and you are exhausted. You need control. You need someone to help you.”

Joseph looked Ruvik over. He understood that the man was intelligent, that he was capable of so much, but he also knew not to trust him. He wouldn’t be able to do anything in a fight either, and that was the majority of what he needed in this place. 

“Close your eyes,” Ruvik instructed. 

“What?” 

“I need you to do something, create something, but you need to close your eyes first. If I was going to do something I would have by now, wouldn’t I?” 

Joseph shuddered but he was right. He didn’t want to trust this man. He didn’t want anything that Ruvik could offer him. He closed his eyes. 

“Who do you need?” the gravelly draw of Ruvik’s voice drew him into a velvety void, his mind blank. “If there was anyone here, who could save you from this place, who could make you feel like nothing could hurt you, who would it be.”

A million images, a thousand memories, both from the field and off, poured into his mind. He knew, just the words were enough to make him know. 

“Sebastian.” 

“Open your eyes.”

Joseph did so and there, sitting across from him in the booth was a ghost. Next to Ruvik there was a rippling outline of white, piling on top of itself, building itself into more and more, becoming more physical. Ruvik watched, bored with what he saw, taking another plate from the conveyor belt. 

“Is anyone surprised?” 

Joseph reached out on his own this time, clutching at Sebastian’s hand, and there was a burst of color, Sebastian’s body quaking as if it was agonizing for his body to become solid. There was no pain in his face though, not once he became whole once more, his hand grabbing onto Joseph’s in return, a smile on his face, relief in his eyes. 

“You’re here!” Joseph swallowed, not knowing what else to say.”You’re really here!” 

“Joseph?” Sebastian leaned forward, not caring about the tea that he spilled, or how his vest soaked up the soy sauce. He was grabbing at Joseph’s arms, at his face, pulling him up and over, pressing kisses to his lips. “Joseph! Thank god I finally found you!”

Joseph kissed him back, finally feeling whole. Finally feeling like there was some form of hope in STEM. 

He didn’t even notice that Ruvik was gone.


End file.
